Few Want To Declare Their Independence

Are We Down To Only Three Teams That Can Go It Alone?

Now, there are four. And that number will be reduced by one when Temple joins the Mid-American Conference as a full member in 2007.

Based on the Owls' schedule this season, two years from now isn't soon enough.

Temple is stuck in its current status because it was booted from the Big East after last season. When a 12-member task force was assembled to decide the future of the program, scenarios were discussed such as dropping to Division I-AA and scrapping football altogether. But becoming a permanent independent like the Owls were in 1985? No way. Not today. Not with the dollars that conference affiliation brings in terms of revenue-sharing, TV packages and bowl tie-ins.

But while Temple doesn't want the independence of being an independent, Notre Dame lives for it. Nor do Army and Navy want any part of the conference affiliation bug, even though the Big East has inquired.

``Being in a conference is very important unless you're in a special situation, which would be Notre Dame, Army and Navy,'' Temple coach Bobby Wallace said. ``And the reason is for scheduling. You've got conference revenue-sharing and all that, which is the big thing. But our schedule ended up being one of the hardest in the country and that was because it's very difficult to get games in October and November as an independent now. Everybody is playing their conference games around that time. There is an appeal if you're Notre Dame, Army or Navy. They have a little better situation, but I think it's very difficult to survive as an independent today.''

Notre Dame not only can survive, but thrive as an independent because of its national fan base, TV contract with NBC and great national rivalries, from Southern Cal to Michigan, from Navy to Pittsburgh.

It also works, on a far smaller level, for Navy and Army, which hosts UConn Saturday at Michie Stadium.

``I don't think anybody can thrive like Notre Dame. The amount of revenue and resources they bring in is phenomenal,'' said Kevin Anderson, the Army athletic director who took over from Rick Greenspan in January. ``Right now we're on track where fiscally I think we're on sound ground in that we have a TV deal, our sponsorship revenue has increased and we've been able to put together a football schedule now that we've got most, if not all, of our dates filled from now basically to 2010.''

The service academies have national appeal because the support for them goes beyond the games. Still, on the field, their challenge is to produce a winner.

Army hasn't had a winning season since 1996, when the Black Knights went 10-2 and played in the Independence Bowl. Army has not beaten a Top 20 team since 1972. Navy has had only eight winning seasons in the last 40 years, but went to the Houston Bowl in 2003.

``I think for us [being an independent] makes a lot of sense because we want to play a national schedule,'' Navy coach Paul Johnson said. ``Being the U.S. Naval Academy, it's important that we play all over the country. By not being in a league, it enables us to do that. You're also able to control your schedule a little bit when you're not in a league.

``I guess people will say [not having an automatic bowl tie-in] would be considered a negative, but we haven't had any trouble getting into a bowl game when we qualified. I've been here four years. The last two years we've been bowl eligible [2003 and 1996] we went both times. When I was an assistant, we won nine games and we also went. I don't think we've ever been bowl-eligible that we haven't gone. And as far as scheduling, we don't have a problem there, either. We don't have any trouble getting a game.''

Neither does Army.

``If we wanted to be super aggressive,'' Anderson said, ``we could probably [schedule games] as far as 2015. When I came here, people told me that I was going to have trouble scheduling games. I haven't seen it. My phone is always ringing from people wanting to play us.''

Army Retreats

Army did test the conference waters recently, joining Conference USA in 1997. At the time, school officials thought the move would increase national exposure and revenue opportunities. Army football showed it was committed to improving and getting back to its winning ways. In the last few years, West Point spent $40 million to add to its picturesque stadium on the banks of the Hudson River.

But Army simply could not compete in C-USA, going 7-27 in one stretch. It couldn't recruit like the other schools in the conference because of the stringent standards at West Point. So the 2004 season was the Black Knights' last in C-USA.